Harry in the Wild: Astounding Stories of Adventure (Iron Pegasus Book 2) by Steve Turnbull

Author:Steve Turnbull [Turnbull, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781910342268
Publisher: Tau Press
Published: 2015-06-30T06:00:00+00:00

xvi

“It’s going to take a couple of days to check everything,” said Khuwelsa.

The sun was going down behind the high plateau to the west. The town, at least what was left of it, was situated in a wide and green river valley surrounded on three sides by mountains and high ground.

Where they’d been allowed to continue, fires had burnt themselves out. A few buildings had been deliberately brought down to prevent the spread, while the important structures that could be saved had been hosed down with steam-powered pumps.

The main warehouses, factory buildings, and shops had been saved where possible since they provided the town’s wealth and ensured its survival.

Once the emergency had passed, the mayor gave them a tour. He almost had tears in his eyes when they reached a large wooden building with several bomb craters visible in the interior.

“Our copper smelting plant,” he said waving his hand—at which action Harry exchanged significant looks with Khuwelsa. “They took all our stock.”

“They didn’t pay?”

“They violated my town,” he said. “They arrived and offered friendship, but it was all lies. Once they had ascertained the locations of what they wanted, they simply took it.”

“What form was the copper in?” asked Khuwelsa.

“Form?”

“Wire? Ingots? Rods?”

“Oh, we do not manufacture wire here,” he said. “Just ingots.” He paused and then added with interest. “Do you think we should?”

Harry noticed a sign from the original building now lying partially burnt on the ground: “F. Danby & Sons”. The factory belonged to the mayor.

“There is great demand for copper in the world,” he continued. “If we supplied it made into wire would we get a better price, do you think?”

Harry looked at the sky. Khuwelsa sighed. “It would not be as compact. You would not be able to transport it as efficiently.”

“True, true.” He looked thoughtful.

As they wandered on, the mayor pointed out the school next to the church, both of which had survived the bombardment though all the windows were shattered.

“Did they say anything?”

“Their lies.”

“I mean anything about why they needed the copper?”

The mayor stopped stock-still in the street and made a great show of rubbing his head as if he were thinking hard.

“Well, of course,” he said eventually. “It was considered odd that a German warship should float down into our town. There was nervousness at first; we sent up our own flyer to intercept them.”

“You have a plane?” interrupted Khuwelsa.

He shook his head. “Not a plane, no. We have an armed launch. Alas, no more. They disabled it before their attack.”

“Disabled how?”

“Why?”

“We may need some spare parts for our plane,” said Harry.

The mayor spread out his arms as if he wanted to embrace them both. “Ask for whatever you need, if we can supply it then we will be happy to do so—at no charge!”

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